Hoisting apparatus



Nov. 2, 1948.' I P. .JEAN-MARIE T. ALLARD 2,453,082

HoIsTING APPARATUS Filed May 15, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 lvl' erre, Teawmfe Thodore, AHQY.

Nm. 2, 39433. P. JEAN-MARIE T. ALLARD 2,453,082 Y HoisTING APPARATUS Filed May 15, 19545 `2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -M ik o NVQNTOQ, FeYre Teun Mmmodom www! "QM MM@ Patented Nov. 2, 1948 :Francavassgnor'to Societe Francaise de Con- .'-struction -de Bonnes Automatiques,v Persan l (Seine-et-Oise `France AppueatifmLMay 15, 1945, seriarNo. 593,827

In France February`4gil944 l `Thepresent inventionzrel-ates to hoistingiapparatus comprising ay horizontal lor somewhat inclined runway on which travels a trolley'tocwhich is 'suspended afgraby lbucket or loading' and unloading-engine and which is `vdisplaced `in one `direction underlthe acti-on of the'hoisting rope and inthe contrary direction under the action of a counter-weight, forming -a recall device, which becomes preponderant las soon as thebucket is suspended to its-head order-own and 'the rope Iceases to-exert a traction on the trolley; the 4recall device beingso disposed Iasto stop the trolley either at axed filling-point `or-*at any 4desired pointL during. its return to 'they filling point, Vwith aviewtochanging the filling point as maybe necessary.

VIn apparatus of this l type, the: lling point Y is `determined lby an abutment-stationary in the -case of a iixed filling point, `and adjustable inthe contrary caseagainst whichy the trolley `orits lcounterweight,` urged by the traction Lof the hoisting rope, comes to stop. When the trolley -is thus stoppedthe hoisting rope-is unwound from its winch, the bucket becomes released froml its head or crown and free to-move down 'into contactCM with thegoods toybe hoisted (itsweight overcoming the recall action of the counterweight, thereby maintaining thetrolley in its stopped position). At thesame. time, a brake operated by the bucket head or crown, when the latter is liberated from the bucket lweight,'maintains the trolley in its stopped position. Upon winding up the hoisting rope around its winch, the buckethecomes nlled, rises up andy is gripped in its head, the brake is released and the counterweight urges the trolley towards the dumpingl point.

' The invention consists in associatingV the abutment with a spring or Ispringsintended-to be compressedby the thrust exerted by the Atrolley 4or its `counterweight and torelax'as soon Iasthe hoisting ro-pe is sla'ckenedinlcrder tofacilitate `or accelerate setting in motion of thetrolley,"to rreduce themass of the oounterweight'andmavoid untimelyopening of the bucketrat the moment of `its being gripped in the bu-cket head.

Compression of-thespringand, therefore, the

vrecalling strength thereof,fis=a function of the `weight .of the load raised. Thisi-springmay be vdisposedin series with stronger eri-ort limiting springs, intended to collapse in the event of abnormal eff-orts. Such effort limiting springs may be associated with a general switch for interrupting, in the event of abnormal efforts, the current `feeding the hoisting motor.

vFurther yfeatures or .the invention will be apmay Ibe applied to Jup and suspendedfrom ,thelhoisting rope. :must however, .be very important, 'in order "to cause the trolleyto be `rapidly Vset in!` motion,` as

- parent fromtthe Y following description, with `reference `to the YVaccompanying drawings, -which show, by Way ofV example, different-embodiments of the invention, and iniwhich: l

Fig. `il lis a" ydiagramI-natical View @showing fa hoisting Aapparatus `with variable filling l point, to

which the invention is applied;

Fig. `2 fshows resilient abutment `means, lthe counterweight being at Vthe highest i point of A its t. stroke, corresponding tothefilling point and the `\abutmentbeing so adjusted as. to cause the trolley to eiect the longest possible run; l

Fig. 2a 1 is a horizontal y--cross--sectiona'l view -Jalong the: line Za-Zo of Fig. 2;

-Fig. 3 shows "anothertadjustment ofv the]- yieldaisle abutment, I corresponding to another filling point |and a reduced run of the trolley;

l-Figs.' 4 and 5: are, respectively, an endview' and a sideview offa modified form` ofthe invention;

.Fig-tti` shows arnodification inlwhichi theiyiel'd- :ablexabutment cooperates `with `thel trolley.

` towards the: dun'ipingpoints;` by -a rope or cable passing 'around a sheavel 6 land to Vwhich. is suscrownr foin'lzm'czlfzetdi.` In-the example chosen, lthishead-is suspended from a lever .9, pivoted at pen-dedicacounterweight L Trolley l .supports -a usual gripping fhead -`or l0 to the trolley, :andhaving albrake filpwhich then runway` `2 byfmeansy of a spring l2.` l

.Referring to Fig. 2,1 the counterweight l i'sguidl eddbetween twobarsV I3, J4 and its upstroke be limitedby :abutments l5, [5a. Inl the example Q-ohosen these-abutmentstare integral withairod Vtwo springs 3 L32, separated by. a washer" 33.

Tension of spring 3| is suchthatcsaid springlis ,completely compressed when the `btubket .is lled It l,explainedherein-after. l n l The tension of\..spring L32 lsuch. that 4said spring is compressed whengfor any reasonisuch as the bucket being entangled in the upward course of its travel, excessive load, jamming of 3 eiorts. Tens-ion of said spring is, therefore, such that it will |be compressed when the normal hoisting effort tends to Ibe exceeded, whereupon the two springs 3|, 32 being compressed, the washer 33 engages a 'switch 34, which cuts oi' the electric `current in the Awhole pliant.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the abutments I5, I5a are identical ybut disposed in two vertical perpendicular planes, and the counterweight 'I has a slot I8 of elongated i-orm, corresponding to that of the abutments. The rod I6 may be so turned that one or the other of these abutments I5, I5a is perpendicular t-o slot I8, the counterweight being stopped by said abutment.

Fig. 4 shows another embodiment of the invention, in which there is but one abutment I9,v

the height of which may be instantaneously adjusted, either through the medium oi hand-operated control means or by a continuously rotating electric motor, so as to Vary the lling point at each operation, such continuous rotation being automatically reversible by means of reversing switches at both ends of the trolleys run.

In the embodiment shown, abutment I9 is secured to the upper end of rod I6, whose lower end has a threaded portion 2li, slidable in the tie I1 and screwed in a nut 2|, having at its periphery a helical gearing in mesh with a worm 22, operated by a motor 23.

The above described parts are carried by carriage 35, bearing on tie I1 through the medium of springs 3|, 32.

As in the preceding embodiment, the purpose of spring 3| is to cause rapid starting of the trolley and that of spring 32 is to cut oi the electric current in the whole plant in case of overloading.

The operation is as follows: the bucket, after dumping, is returned towards the filling point, in the direction cf arrow F1 by the hoisting cable. Counterweight 1 rises between bars I3, I4 and along rod I6 towards the upper end of its stroke, until it engages abutment I5 or I9. At this moment, rod I6 exerts a pressure upon the springs. Spring 32 resists compression as the normal traction is insufcient to depress said spring. However, spring 3| is slightly compressed as the trolley stops. Upon unwinding rope 3, bucket 4 is moved down but its weight exerts a traction which overcomes the recall-effort of the counterweight, so that the trolley remains stationary. When the bucket engages the goods to be taken in, brake II maintains the bucket in place.

The operator then winds up cable 3, bucket 4 becomes filled and is then raised. Atv this time, they eiort exerted on the hoisting rope 3 is considerably increased and is integrally transmitted to the spring 3|, which is thereby compressed. When the bucket is gripped in its head 8, the operator slackens rope 3. whereby the counterweight becomes preponderant and, under the joint action of this counterweight and spring 3|, the trolley starts rapidly in order to return to the dumping point.

If, by reason of the bucket being impeded in the course of its upward movement or otherwise, the hoisting eiort becomes excessive, after spring 3| has been fully compressed, spring 32 collapses in turn, so that washer 33 operates switch 34, which automatically cuts off the electric current.

Should it be desired to reduce the run oi the trolley in its return stroke toward the lling point, rod I6 will be so turned that the abutment I5 registers with the slot I8 of counterweight 'I whereas abutment I 5a is placed crosswise thereto (Figs. 2 and 3), or abutment I9 will be raised ori lowered by means of motor 23. The latter may' be rotated continuously, at a constant or variable\ speed, in order to modify at every instant the position of the abutment.

In the example shown in Fig. 6, the abutment 36 cooperates directly with trolley I, and springs 3|, 32 are threaded on a rod 31, adapted to slide in a support 38 and to operate a switch 34. The operation is identical to that of the preceding embodiments.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, which have been set forth merely by way of example.

Having now described my invention, what l I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A hoisting device comprising a stationary structure embodying a substantially horizontal runway, a trolley movable along said runway, a grab bucketcarried by said trolley, a hoisting cable connected to said bucket, guiding means for the hoisting cable on said trolley whereby said hoisting cable is adapted to draw the trolley from the dumping to the filling point, a recall cable attached to the trolley, a counterweight attached to saidreoall cable, means for guiding said recall cable on said stationary structure whereby the recall cable is adapted to draw the trolley from the illing to the dumping point, an abutment carried by said stationary structure for stopping the movement of said trolley under the action of said recall cable, two springs of different yielding resistances operatively connected with said abutment, the lighter spring being adapted to `start tire reverse movement of the trolley and means for preventing any further action of the hoisting cable when the heavier spring is compressed.

2. A hoisting device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said abutment and springs are mounted on said runway and engage with the trolley.

PIERRE J EAN -MARIE THODORE ALLARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 83,319 Rea Oct. 20, 1868 174,446 Smith Mar. 7, 1876 257,128 Beckert Apr. 25, 1882 801,305 Deachman Oct. 10, 1905 906,230 Horner Dec. 8, 1908 1,184,051 Travell May 23, 1916 2,263,482 Allard Nov., 18, 1941 2,270,916 Allard June 27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 544,425 Germany Feb. 27, 1932 411,322 France Apr. 9. 1910 

